


Stars and Soot

by wonderwhy



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: (inspired by both the film and the book), (very loosely based), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Stardust!AU, and flirts with everyone, dances to classical music on his gramophone, i just want to write eret the pirate captain who dresses in drag and, is that so much to ask, its a STARDUST au, its a stardust au!!!!!!, sorry did i say that loud enough
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-23 12:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14934084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderwhy/pseuds/wonderwhy
Summary: "Are we human because we look at the stars, or do we look at the stars because we're human?"The one in which Astrid is a fallen star who's pretty pissed off, and Hiccup is just trying to make his way through the magical world across the Wall so he can get back home and impress his crush.(It's a Stardust AU. Of sorts.)





	1. falling stars

**Author's Note:**

> name change: this was previously called 'Love. I hope you choke on it.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for anyone who's reading this... hi! i've edited the first chapter a little bit to fit the story better. even if you've been here before, i suggest you give this chapter another read before diving into the next one!

"Fuck."

The forest is dark and cold and mostly, it's empty. Silent. He's been trekking through it for well over an hour– or maybe longer than that, it's honestly hard to tell, time moves differently in this world than it did in Berk– clutching that gods-damned Babylon candle in his hand like if he held it tight enough it might rub some warmth into him.

Gods, it's freezing, he should have thought to bring an extra jacket before he went venturing off into an unknown realm with hardly anything but a glass flower, a candle that's running out, and that thin gold chain in his back pocket.

"Fucking– ow."

He freezes. There it is again, that voice in the trees A moment ago, he thought maybe he imagined the whispered fuck that came from somewhere in the dark, but this time it's louder and decidedly less easy to ignore. There's definitely someone there. Somewhere. He's just not sure where–

"Ow! Gods fucking... ow!"

He pushes through the foliage, whacking himself with branches and leaves and making his way towards the sound, because it definitely came from this direction, and it didn't sound that threatening– more like the sound of someone who's hurt and stressed and might need a bit of help.

And they might be able to help him too. Maybe they're local, maybe they're good with directions. He's utterly lost and that candle is a terrible navigator. What kind of magical transporting device drops you in the middle of the woods when it's supposed to be taking you to your long-lost father?

That's what he's thinking when his foot slips and he tumbles head first down a steep, dirty hill that he couldn't see two seconds before.

"Oh my gods!" Someone shrieks, as his head hits the ground with a thunk. "What the fuck, who the fuck, what the fuck–"

He groans. His head feels fuzzy and the hard ground, beneath his hands, is warm like it's been in the sun for a few hours. Which doesn't make sense because it's the middle of the night right now but that's not really registering in his head right now. He huffs and pushes himself up onto his elbow, blinking and trying to get his bearings.

There's a girl shrieking and scrambling away from him and he guesses it's probably the same person who was swearing profusely just two minutes before.

Well. At least he made an entrance.

"Sorry!" He blurts, pushing himself to his knees and holding his hands up as if that'll placate her. "Hi! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I was just–"

She throws a wet clod of dirt at him. It hits him square in the chest and he wheezes.

"Oh, okay, you're throwing mud at me," he nods and stands up as he gingerly flicks off the brown gloop off of his shirt. It stains. "Nice."

"Go away!" she snaps. It would be intimidating, maybe, if she was standing on two legs instead of lying sprawled on the ground and clutching one knee to her chest. And it would be intimidating if she didn't look like she'd just been crying, and if her hair wasn't a mess and her dress not so ripped and rumpled.

Why is she wearing such a flimsy looking gown in the middle of the forest? And no shoes, really? Is it normal for people to not wear shoes beyond the Wall, is that a fashion thing here? Maybe he missed the memo.

"Are you okay?" He hovers a few metres away, just to be sure she won't throw more mud at him.

"No," she snaps. "I'm not! Leave me alone."

"If you're not okay, then um, do you need some help–"

"Did you not hear me say leave me alone?" She moves her legs as if she's about to push herself up, but with a slight wince, she seems to think better of it. She huffs and slumps against the ground, pushing her bangs away from her face. "Why are you still standing there?"

"Um–" he doesn't really know what to say when she's glaring at him like that, so he clears his throat and says, "I'm Hiccup."

"What?"

"I'm– my name's Hiccup." He juts his hand out automatically, like he's waiting for her to shake it from all the way over there. The way she looks at his hand, you'd think it personally offended her, and Hiccup tries not to cringe as he lets it flop to his side, clearing his throat.

"I didn't ask for your name," she shifts again, sliding just a little further away from him. Her dress looks torn and burnt and it's got a strange look to it. He's not sure where it's from, but he knows it's definitely not the kind of dress a girl from Berk would wear, anyway.

He sighs. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm really lost," he glances around at the space that he's landed in and it hits him that he's in some sort of crater. Which is even more perplexing than the dark, ominous forest he's been stuck in all night. It's brighter here, there aren't any trees blocking out the moonlight and it makes it easier to see the injured girl's blue dress and her pale, blonde hair. She almost looks like she's shimmering, but that could be his hungry, sleep-deprived mind playing tricks on him.

The light makes it easier to see his surroundings, too, and he looks around again at the crater, at the hard, smooth ground. It's warm. It's slightly smoky.

Specifically, it's slightly smoky in the middle of the crater, where the girl is curled on a patch of the ground that looks black and newly burnt.

"Oh my gods," he breathes, "Is this... is this where the star fell?" He spins on his heel, doing a full circle and yes, this must be it, it has to be, it makes perfect sense. The star must have only crashed a few hours ago, maybe just before he arrived on this side of the wall.

Only a few hours ago, when he'd sat in a field on a picnic blanket and he'd seen it fall from the sky, and he made that promise to Heather that he'd find it for her and bring it back as a birthday gift. And she snorted into her champagne as they shook on it.

"This might seem like... a bit of a weird question, but," he gets down on his hands and knees and starts feeling around the warm dirt, unsure of exactly what he should be looking for, "uh, have you seen a fallen star, by any chance? I'm pretty sure it fell right around here, and I really need it, have you seen anything?"

She shifts on the ground, clutching her knee tighter to her chest and squinting at him. "What?"

"I know it's crazy, I know, but–" he spins in a circle again, doing a full sweep, but he can't find anything out of the ordinary. It would help if he knew what the hell a star's supposed to look like after it plummets from the sky. Maybe it looks like nothing, maybe it hits the earth and disappears into a measly bit of stardust. "Have you seen a fallen star?"

She blinks at him. It's a slow, disbelieving blink, and then she scoffs. "Ha. You're funny."

She doesn't sound like she's laughing.

"No, seriously," he shakes his head. He's not really sure why the Babylon candle led him to here, of all places, but surely there's a reason. Surely there's still hope. He really, really doesn't want to believe that all that's left behind is a bit of dust. "I mean, look, we're in a crater!" He gestures avidly around him, wanting this girl to cooperate, but she's still looking at him like she'd rather be literally anywhere else. "Look! This must be where it fell."

She stares at him.

"Yeah," she says slowly, with a nod. "Yeah, actually, this is where it fell."

His heart jumps. "Really?"

"Yeah!" She says it a bit more enthusiastically this time, as she starts to pick herself up off the ground. She winces again, as she leans on her seemingly injured knee, but she manages to straighten herself up and straighten her back. Her fists are clenched like her knee is still hurting but she stands proudly despite that, and she's almost as tall as him, and he realises she's not as small as she seemed just a moment ago. And she's definitely shimmering. "You're right, it fell just over an hour ago."

"You saw it?" He's grinning like an idiot and she nods excitedly.

"Yeah, I saw it. It fell right... there," she points at the very centre of the crater, where the ground is flat and steamy and pure black. "And actually, if you wanna get really specific," she puts a hand on one hip and the other one points straight up at the sky. He glances up, smiling at the thousands of stars that glitter in the night sky. They're so beautiful. He's going to get to take one. He's going to get to give it to his crush and prove himself because of it.

"Up there," the injured girl continues, "is where this weird, ugly amulet came out of nowhere, and knocked the star out of the heavens–" she yanks at the necklace around her neck, a big silver jewel on a gold chain, "–which actually, was really rude, considering the star was just minding its own business, you know?" Then she aims her pointed finger behind him, her smile dropping in a heartbeat. "And over there," she continues, her blue eyes piercing his, "is where a bumbling, jittery moron decided to tumble into this crater head first and give her the fright of her life!"

He blinks.

She stares at him with her sharp, blue eyes, shimmering in the moonlight and... Oh.

Oh.

"You're the– you're the star," he blurts. "I... You're the star?"

"Uh huh."

"You're the star!"

"I'm the star," she snaps. "Surprise."

He laughs. He found it, he actually found it. He found a fallen star and it's her, it's this... it's this girl with crossed arms and an arched eyebrow.

He thought he'd be presenting Heather with some sort of magical stone, or a gem, or literally anything besides a human being with real arms and legs and a real, genuinely pissed off expression. How do you give a person to another person as a gift? How does that work?

No. He can make it work.

He'll bring the star to Heather, show her he caught it, and she'll be so impressed, and it'll be enough to prove himself, and... and then he and the star can go their separate merry ways and he can marry Heather and maybe then he'll finally feel accomplished and validated and…

  
It has to work.

"Oh, wow," he runs his hand through his hair, trying and failing to get the disbelieving grin off his face. "This... sorry but, I wasn't really expecting a star to look like..." he gestures to her. "This."

"You just gestured to all of me."

"Well, yeah." He rubs a hand along his chin, wondering how he's going to do this. "That's what I mean."

"Why are you still talking to me?" She sighs. "I'm kind of dealing with something right now, I don't have time for chit-chat."

He purses his lips. She's not going to like this.

"Okay, so... listen. I need to do something. And I'm just going to apologise in advance."

"Apologise for wha– hey!" She jerks back but she's too late, because he's already grabbed the chain from his back pocket and looped it around her wrist in a tight knot. She pushes him away but the chain– since it is a magical chain, after all– only lengthens itself. "What are you– what the fuck! This is kidnapping!"

"Sorry," he winces. "I just... I promised someone I'd bring them a fallen star as a gift, for uh, for their hand in marriage?"

The star's mouth falls open. "Are you serious."

"And I really can't back out now. I mean, I was expecting to find some sort of inanimate object, honestly, I wasn't expecting to find a... lady."

"So, having found a lady, and realising that the star is in fact, a person with feelings, would you not think to maybe leave her alone?" She tugs on the chain, pointlessly. "Why drag her into this mess?"

"Love." He explains, dumbly.

Her eyes practically dig into his own. "I hope you choke on it," she says, flatly.

He sighs and wraps his end of the chain around his own wrist, then stuffs his hands into his pockets. "I won't," he tries to say it with more confidence that he has. "So, uh... do you have any idea of where we are–"

"I'm not helping you," she yanks the chain again, not trying to free herself, just trying to jerk him forward. It works and he stumbles with a gasp. "I didn't agree to this. I'm going to do everything in my power to frustrate your plans and make this Hel for you."

And with that, she plants her arse on the ground again, this time with her arms folded and her back straight and her face turned determinedly towards the edges of the crater, away from him.

Okay. This wasn't part of the plan.

The downside of your fallen star being a living, breathing human: they may not want to get as enthusiastically involved in your romantic plan as you are.

He was so focused on this plan. On finding the star, bringing it back to Berk in one piece, getting the praise. The idea was so clear in his head that he didn't consider the possibility that his prize would just... not comply.

"It's too dark to travel right now," he announces, clearing his throat like he's more sure about himself than he actually is. "I don't know where we are and it'll be easier to do this in the morning, after a good night's sleep, so..."

The star doesn't answer, doesn't even give him a signal that she's heard him, as he takes off his plaid jacket and folds it up to use as a pillow. He lies there, uncomfortable on top of the hard stone, a bit of rubble digging into his shoulder. It's not the nicest sleeping conditions, but as he lays his head down, he realised how exhausted he is and he feels his whole body slump.

He's quiet for a moment, trying to let his breathing slow, and the star sits rigid only a few feet away from him. It takes another moment of pure silence for her to shift, hesitantly tilting her chin towards him. She raises an eyebrow when he blinks up at her.

"What," she says, "are you doing."

"Getting some sleep, what does it look like?" He was trying to be polite to her at first, but now she's starting to grind on his nerves and, well, he's tired, excuse him for snapping. "You should too, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"It's the middle of the night."

"Yeah... um, I know."

She takes a deep breath and her glare goes from annoyed to positively furious, her mouth twisting and her eyes boring into his. Keeping eye contact with her is terrifying. It's electric. Every time he does it, it's hard to look away, even though it digs into him with a sting, for a reason he can't explain.

And his heart is beating too fast too, which is ridiculous, because he really shouldn't be frightened of her. He's the one who caught her, technically, so he has no reason to be the one who's scared.

"It's the middle of the night," she repeats, slowly, like she wants it to sunk into his thick skull. "I don't sleep at night. I sleep during the day. I'm a star." She points her arm towards the sky, towards the glittering, blinking lights in the night sky. "Look at them! They're all wide awake!"

  
"So, what, you just stay awake all night? Doing what?"

She splutters. "Doing what? Doing... what do you think? What do stars do?"

Annoy their captors? he nearly blurts.

It's on the tip of his tongue, but that's a bad idea. Saying that would just piss her off more, and also, that’s just admitting to the fact that he is technically her… captor.

Which is true, and it leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but he doesn't want her to know he's admitting that.

"I don't know," he sighs.

"Shine," she spits. "They shine."

It takes a while for her to actually lie down. And when she does, she does it reluctantly, grumbling and muttering under her breath the whole time, listing off more insults than he actually knows. She wriggles and fidgets on the ground and as he watches her, he sees that her eyes are open wide. And all she does is stare at the sky, at the dozens of other twinkling stars above them, and he feels a pang in his chest at the sight.

That was her home, wasn't it? He's not going to pretend he knows how this works, or how a star can live up there above the earth for so long but can so easily be pushed out of the sky like she was. He's not going to pretend to know what it feels like, and he's too sleepy to even try to comprehend it anyway. But he knows, on some level, that what she must be feeling is some sort of homesickness.

She frowns. She clutches her hand to her chest, her brows furrowed, and she's pale and shimmering and slightly ethereal.

And though she was angry a few minutes before, now she just looks kind of sad.

Hiccup closes his eyes to block it out, frowning inwardly to himself. He tugs the thin, gold chain closer to him, that chain that binds them together, winding it around his wrist. He'd talk to her now, try to reassure her that she'll be okay, but he's not sure if she'd even want that, and he knows he doesn't have the right to do that anyway when he’s just tied her up with a chain.

The sound of the crickets and the creaking of the trees slowly lulls him into sleep, even as the star lies rigid and wide awake just across from him.

He hopes she'll actually try to rest. He's got a long day ahead of him and he doesn't really want it to drag on because of a cranky and tired traveling partner who refused to sleep like a normal person.

"Goodnight," he offers. It’s awkward and quiet, almost lost to the night. He squeezes his eyes shut and turns his head away.

He's nearly asleep before he hears her reply, a soft scoff in dark. "Idiot."


	2. hungry stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i've edited the first chapter a little bit, so I suggest you go back and read that first before jumping right into this one)
> 
> hello! i posted this a while back at a time when i didn't have time to get invested in it. now, i'm hopefully going to be able to focus on it again and write a lot more of it, because i love this AU and I have a lot (a lot!!!) of ideas for it, and i'm so excited for it to get there. i really hope other people are as stoked about it as much as me because ummmm.... it's all I want to talk about. ha. i'm very, very excited about this

 

"I'm hungry."

Hiccup can't help but sigh loudly, his breath turning to fog in the cold night air. He shoves his hands into his pockets and hunches his shoulders, trying not to shiver too violently. "Are you?"  

"Yes, Hiccup, I am." She walks behind him at the pace of a snail, dragging her feet across the forest floor, frustratingly slow. The chain between them rattles slightly with the sway of her arms.    

"I didn't know that," Hiccup mutters, "it's not like you've loudly been repeating it, over and over again, for the past two hours."                               

He hears her scoff, and then she yanks the chain against his wrist.

"I've been repeating it because I'm _hungry_ ," she says, "and you're not listening."

He looks over his shoulder to give her a glare. She's giving him a matching one.

"I've told you," he says, "I don't have any food."

"Then we need to go _get_ some food–"

"From where? Where do you think we're going to get food right now?"

The past two nights have been the same, and they've both been exhausting. That first night he found her, when he slept on his jacket and got a creak in his neck, she stayed awake with her chin held high and her arms crossed. He woke up at the crack of dawn, blinking confused at the dirt and trees around him, and when he turned his head and saw her frowning at him he nearly jumped. She looked different in the daylight– less ethereal, less like something out of an eerie dream.

More... human.

The sun made the dirt and tears on her dress painstakingly obvious. It made the frown on her face more pitiful. Her hair was tangled and her eyes were tired, and most importantly, her skin wasn't shimmering like it was under the moonlight, and in his blurry morning haze he had to wonder if he just imagined it the night before.

Because that morning, she didn't look like a star, she just looked sort of pathetic.

"There's probably an inn close by, or a pub," she says. It's confident, matter-of-fact, as if she's lived here her whole life and knows the place like the back of her hand. "You're just leading us in circles."

"I'm not leading us in– and can you speed up?" He gestures to her with his elbow and she blinks, affronted. "We would've walked into some food by now if you'd maybe stop dragging your feet and help me out here."

"Pfft, as if I'm going to help you out. I'm doing everything in my power to thwart your plans." She stops walking, and lifts one leg in the air to give it a shake. She pats her thigh with her hand and gives him the fakest, most ridiculous pout. "If that means using my poor, pained, broken leg to my advantage, then so be it."

He splutters. "Your leg is not broken!"

"It is so!" She leans on it deliberately and fake-whimpers, holding onto her knee with both hands. "Oof. _Ow_. I'm just a poor, injured lady with nowhere to go and–"

"You know, slowing us down isn't helping yourself, either," he rolls his eyes and turns away from her, continuing to walk ahead even thought the chain's short enough that it's going to yank him back any second. "You're the one who's starving. The slower you go, the more time you waste, the further you keep yourself from a hot meal."

He doesn't hear anything for a moment, but then he hears her sigh. "Oh." Then the next moment, she's walking briskly up to his side.

 _Walking briskly_ is putting it lightly. She's practically _skipping._

"Your leg is not broken!" He snaps, pointing at her knee. It's moving perfectly. She's walking like she hasn't got a care in the world. "You liar!"

"I'm not a liar. It was broken," she says, "and now it's not."

"It can't heal that fast!"

"It's still _sore,"_ she snaps, "if that makes you feel any better."

"It doesn't– ugh," he rubs his forehead, holding in a frustrated groan. And he knows he can’t be getting frustrated with her if he wants her to cooperate, and he was doing alright with the politeness the first day, but now she's making him want to bang his head into the closest oak tree. She's driving him insane. "Your leg was broken yesterday. And now it's not. Is that right? Are you seriously telling me that right now?"

He stares at her. She shrugs.

"Okay," he laughs disbelievingly, a laugh of defeat because he's not getting anywhere with this. "Okay, that's fine."

They walk, then, in relative silence. The only interruptions are the gentle sways of the leaves in the night breeze, or the clinking of the chain between them. The chain given to him by his mother, the one that shrinks and grows with a mind of its own, the one that's impossible to break unless the owner wishes it. It's sturdy around the star's wrist, and around his own. He's seen her fumbling with it, pulling her nails under the metal to loosen it, biting with her teeth when she thinks he's not looking. The chain never budges. The look on her face when she gives up, every time, makes something inside him twist guiltily.

He glances at her, now, and the moonlight pulls the same trick it did on that first night he saw her, in the crater, when she was swearing and groaning and eyeing him suspiciously – it makes her shimmer. He wonders if that's how moonlight looks in Berk, or if it's just her.

He's pretty sure it's just her.

She tilts her head and it catches the light, glowing against dark trees and foliage. Her hair's still in knots and tangles but it’s just as radiant as her skin, and when he looks down, even her dress is shimmering despite the tatters. Up close, he realises it's more torn than he initially thought, and not only that, there are dirt marks staining the strange and silky fabric. Burn marks, too, he realises. A side effect from falling from the sky.

"What are you staring at?"

He jolts, darting his eyes back up to her face in an instant. “What?”

“Stop staring at me,” she says, “you’ve got a weird expression on your face, it’s annoying me.”

“Oh. Sorry. I was just–” he gestures her with his elbow, his hands still shoved into his pockets, and says simply, “your dress.”

“My dress?” She raises an eyebrow and looks down, running her fingers over the ruined material. “What about it?”

“It’s filthy.”

“Oh, wow. Thanks.”

“No, I didn’t mean–” he pauses when he nearly steps into a log in the middle of their winding path, moss-covered and slick. He sighs. “This path isn’t much of a path anymore, is it?”

“It never really was a path, you just set off in some random direction and got us lost.” She pushes her hair over her shoulder, and then she’s grabbing the top of the log and trying to pull herself up. Her feet, bare against the moss, slip and make her skid right off. “What were you–” she shoves her hair out of her face, “what were you saying about my dress, again?”

“I was just pointing out how filthy and torn it is,” he hoists himself onto the log, his boots finding more purchase than her own feet did. He stands up– wobbling slightly on the old, weathered wood– and holds a hand to her. She wrinkles her nose at it.

“Sorry,” her voice is flat, and she sets a hand on her hip, tilting her face upwards to look at him fully. “I‘ll try to keep my gown clean the next time I get knocked out of the sky.”

“I’m not _insulting_ it, I’m just saying. We’re going to have to get you a new one.”  She still won’t take his hand, so he wiggles his fingers at her. “Come on, I thought you were hungry.”

She frowns at his hand. It looks like she’s about to bat it away for a moment, but then she grumbles something under her breath and lets him heave her up towards him. As soon as she’s up, though, her bare foot slips, and she grabs onto his arms with a gasp before she falls.

“Yeah, and we’re going to have to get you some shoes, too,” Hiccup laughs shakily. Her grip is vice-like on his sleeves and when she turns her head towards him her face is far too close to his.

“Stars don’t need shoes,” she snaps. She lets go of his jacket and spins on her heel to step off the log, but her heel skids against the moss again (because, obviously) and she falls onto the ground with a small shriek. Hiccup sighs as he looks at her, sprawled on the ground and groaning at the damp leaves that stick to her dress.

He hops off beside her and holds out a hand, eyebrow raised. “Stars don’t need shoes?”

“Shut up.”

She purses her lips and he tries not to laugh at the sour expression. “You okay?”

Her head falls against the log and she slouches further, staring at his outstretched hand. She pouts, and this time he’s pretty sure it’s genuine. “I’m fucking starving.”

The laugh bubbles out of him. She stares, confused as his shoulders shake and he tries to bite his smile back. Her eyes narrow.

“What?” she snaps, and it sounds so whiny it nearly sets him off into more giggles, “I _am.”_

“Okay, okay,” he covers his mouth with his hand, trying to set his face back into something more serious, and he notices the corner of her mouth turns up, just a little bit. “Okay. Sorry. Come on, up you get.”

She grabs his hand, her grip tight, hauls herself up until she’s standing right in front of him. And again, she’s too close, close enough that he sees freckles on her nose that he didn’t see before, close enough to see circles under her eyes. He swallows. Looks away.

“Yeah, uh, you definitely need shoes.”

“I get it.” She rolls her eyes. “And food. I need that too.”

“Shoes and food,” Hiccup nods. He steps back a bit, but her hand is still in his. “And a new dress.”

Her spare hand smooths over her dress, her nose wrinkling at the creases. She shrugs reluctantly.

Hiccup, his hand still joined to hers, starts to walk down the overgrown path again, and she follows. Her hand falls away from his after a second and he stretches his fingers, his palm feeling clammy. He hopes she didn’t notice.  


* * *

 

"Can you hear that?"

There's a noise up ahead of them, he's sure of it. It's far away, but it stands out against the silent backdrop of the forest.

The star, of course, ignores him. She moves forward, towards the noise, her feet crunching in the leaves and Hiccup cringes.

"Stop!" He whispers. It's to no avail. She tilts her head to show she's heard him but she keeps walking ahead, even though the sound is getting louder, more ominous, and maybe it wouldn't be so ominous if it wasn't the middle of the night, but it is. And it's dark. The trees are thicker here, there's less moonlight to guide them and he can't see a thing, not even the white-blonde of the star's hair, or her shimmery dress as she gets further away, only staying tethered by the chain between them. "Stop! Can't you hear that?"

"Can't you see that?" she snaps. He's not sure if she turns to look at him or if she looks straight ahead, because he's following blindly now. How can a forest get so deep and dark so quickly? It presses down on him, the darkness. He grips the chain around his wrist and holds on tight, swallowing thickly.

"See- see what?" He whispers. His foot whacks against a tree root and he nearly yelps, his heart hammering, teeth chattering.

"See... that."

He's tugged forward and suddenly, he's beside her, barely making out her outline. It's too dark for her dress to shimmer under the moonlight, and all he can trust is the warmth beside him, the feel of her silky sleeve against his hand.

And then he can see that silky sleeve against his hand. It shimmers once more, and he can see her face, and the leaves around them, as if the moonlight has managed to squeeze through the tiny, tiny gaps in the thick tree leaves, and he wonders how his eyes have adjusted so quickly. If his eyes have even adjusted. Maybe it’s his mind playing tricks, or maybe… no, that’s not possible. But when he looks at her closely, and he can see every illuminated detail, he realises it’s too obvious for it to be a coincidence.

She’s shining.

That's why he can see so clearly now, that's why there's light- it's all her. His mouth falls open as she stretches her arm out in front of her, either completely unaware or completely unfazed by the warm glow that emits from her.

"Hey, hey girl," the star says softly, and that's when he realises there's a horse in front of him.

"God- oh my god," he gasps. He jerks back and nearly trips over his own feet in his shock, gripping the chain like a lifeline. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Ssh, you'll scare it," she hisses. The horse stands so still, so quiet, it makes him uneasy. It's still hard for him to see but he can tell that it's blue, a light blue, and it's tall and graceful and nothing like the few mares that used to drag carts around in Wall. A horn protrudes from it's head, right between its eyes, shiny and tall and twisted.

"Unicorn?" he says, dumbly.

"No shit," she says, flatly.

The horse- the unicorn- huffs and sniffs at the star's hand, and Hiccup has to wonder how on earth a star from the sky is so comfortable around an animal she's never seen before. He has to wonder how she knows what a unicorn is, when he didn't even know a unicorn could exist. He doesn't ask her out loud, but he wonders.

"Oh, are you hungry?" The star chuckles, patting the unicorn's head as it nudges her side. She's smiling for the first time and for a second, the forest gets brighter. Just for a second. "Yeah, me too. I'm starving and we've been looking for food all day and night." She pauses, tilts her head. "Would happen to know anywhere we could get some grub?"

"Um. I don't think the horse is gonna answer you," Hiccup says quietly.

"I didn’t ask you," she says, without missing a beat. The unicorn whinnies in protest and when it looks up at him, and its dark eyes meet his, he feels his heart jumps into his throat. The star laughs and rubs at its neck, shaking her head fondly as if its an old pet dog that she's known for years. "Aw, maybe she doesn't like when you call her the H word."

“The H word? Horse?”

The unicorn whinnies again, only this time, it jerks its head too.

"I think," she star says, "she wants us to follow her."

Hiccup barks a nervous laugh. "No way. Nope."

When she whips her head towards him, she gives him that signature frown he's been getting ever since he rolled into that crater.  "What the hell do you mean no way?"

"I mean, no way, we're not following a stranger horse- sorry, _unicorn_ , we're not following a stranger unicorn through the deep dark forest when we don't know anything about her and it could be some sort of... uh," he flails an arm around, searching for his word and the star's eyebrows raise higher. "Some sort of trap, or something."

The unicorn begins to canter ahead, slowly enough for them to catch up. The star does so, without hesitation. Her glow flickers as she glares at him, the light getting dimmer the more her lips turn down. "Why," she says slowly, as she begins to walk ahead,"would a unicorn want to trap us?"

"I don't know!" He blurts, standing his ground. She gets far enough that the chain pulls between them, and he folds his arms, hoping it'll help him _not_ fall over. "It's a unicorn, I don't know what they do, they're not even supposed to exist."

"Who says they're not supposed to exist?" She tugs the chain. He clutches his jaw, not moving.

"What if it eats humans?" he says quickly. Not that he believes it, he's not stupid. He's just pretty sure the unicorn doesn't like him that much and since he and the star are already arguing, he doesn't really want her to have an accomplice on her side. Even if it's just a horse.

Unicorn. Whatever.

"It doesn't eat humans," the star sighs audibly, and she’s walked too far ahead and her shine has gone down so he can barely ssee her as she says it. "But I’m gonna end up eating a certain human if we don't get some proper food soon. So come on." With both hands, she grabs the chain and gives one single tug.

He wasn't expecting it to be that strong. He yelps, jolting forward and tripping over roots and twigs, and then he's toppling over and bringing something with him that’s warm and soft and must be her.

“Ugh- get off me, idiot-”

“You pulled me! You’re the one who pulled me, I didn’t-”

Dry leaves crunch against his back, damp against his jacket, and loose, long hair tickles his face and collarbone as he cranes his neck.

“Because you weren’t moving,” she snaps, “sorry for trying to speed you up, gods-”

“Speed _me_ up?” He feels her hands against his arms, pinning him down as she struggles to push herself up with a grunt. She’s stronger than she looks and he’s out of his breath. “Look who’s talking!” A hand pushes against his face and one of her knees presses into his stomach and he grunts. “Ow. _Ow._ ”

“Ugh, sorry,” she mutters. She moves her knee to the side, next to his hip, and the hand that’s smashed against his face lifts and gives him an awkward, halfway-apologetic pat that lands on his nose. It’s still so dark in the forest. It makes her breath louder, it makes the hair against his neck more obvious. It makes her body warmer than he’d thought it would be, pressed too tight against him.

“It’s fine, you just winded me,” he shifts, an effort to get away from her even though she’s still undeniably, entirely on top of him. “I’m just in pain, don’t mind me.”

“Gods, you’re such a baby.”

“Am not!” He feels his face flush as soon as he says it, feeling like he proved her point. She snorts and slowly rolls to the side, her leg dragging over his too slowly and he swallows. “Can you get off me now?”

“I’m working on it,” she huffs, and she stiffens against him. “Oh, gods, where’d she go?”

He groans as her hand pushes against his face again as leverage, and then she finally pushes herself to her feet above him. “Where’d who go?” He lifts himself onto his elbows, hoping his eyes will adjust to the darkness as he peers up at her, her feet on either side of his torso. “What? What are you doing?”

“The unicorn, you idiot!” One moment, her bare feet shuffle against him, and in the next moment she’s no longer above him. He hears her run away from him, leaves and twigs crunching under each footfall. “No, no, come _back!”_

“Hey!” Hiccup lurches to his side as the chains drags over him, clinking gently. “Hey, stop, you’re gonna…”

His arm is yanked in the same second that he hears her shriek, and then her fall, and he sighs with a roll of his eyes.

“...hurt yourself. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

“I’m fine, get up, we need to go,” she shouts over, already pulling the chain and forcing him to get to his feet before he’s dragged along. “She can’t have gone far, we can still find her.”

She takes off running. In the middle of the forest, as if there aren’t enough trees to block her path. He’s forced to follow and he’s not happy about it, grabbing the chain in both hands and pulling himself towards her.

“Look, it’s a rogue magical creature,” he pants, already out of breath as he dodges barely visible tree branches. “There’s no reason for us to trust it, maybe it was just-”

“Just leading us to food? Maybe?” the star calls over her shoulder. “Maybe an inn? A nice warm comfy bed?”

“This is stupid,” he shouts. He’s pretty sure she’s getting faster, and his heart picks up its pace, adrenaline coursing through him as his stumbling run turns into a sprint. He pulls himself the last few inches of the chain and suddenly her arm is there, next to his, flailing in the air as she runs and he tries to steady it. “This is so stupid! We’re gonna knock into a tree any second!”

“It’s fine!” she yells, “it’s getting brighter, look!”

He does look, but he can’t see anything. Just trees. And her. Barely.

“We need to slow down,” he pants, “please.” The darkness feels constricting and he can hardly keep up with her pace. He’s exhausted. He can hardly breathe.

She runs ahead again, a burst of energy that he can’t match, and he thinks about dropping to the forest floor and letting her drag him after all.

“Hiccup, look!” She cries. He jerks his head towards her, squinting, and then gasps as he collides into her back. She laughs as he fumbles against her, blinking and looking around and realising the trees have thinned out considerably. She elbows him. “Told you she was leading us to food.”

And sure enough, there’s a bar at side of the road.

“Oh,” he nods, breathing heavily, “oh, great! Good.”

She marches towards it with a smile on her face, and he hesitates, looking down the street warily before tapping her on the arm.

“Stick by me,” he says, “we don’t know what kind of people live here, we need to be safe.”

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“Yeah, well, strangers aren’t always fine,” he shrugs. He takes another look down the street, taking in what looks to be a small, but bustling village. The cottages look dark and, their windows shut, but the bar’s windows are open and a warm glow emits from it. People on the street dance together, swaying in that drunk, happy way, singing songs and waving bottles. It looks fine. It does. But… “We just need to be careful.”

When he looks back at her, she’s shaking her head at him and her lips are pursed. She holds up her wrist, the chain tight against her skin. It looks sore, red. He glances away, uneasy.

“Careful?” she says. She lets her hand flop to her side and she sighs, turning away and walking towards the bar. “How much more careful can I be, I’m already tied to a leash.”

 


End file.
